20 unique Japanese bridges that you want to see in Japan!

Hello! I’m Mishi. Today, what I want to share with you is Japanese bridges. I want to show you all the different Japanese bridges that you might be interested in and I hope they might make you want to go to see them. I’ll show you the bridges from the north part to the south part. They are very beautiful and some places decorate the bridges with lights for the night. Especially, when it comes to the combination of the seasons, they will change the look. Many countries have four seasons but not many countries make much of it like Japan!

1: Taushubetsu bridge(Taushubetsu-Kyoryo/タウシュベツ橋梁)

Taushubetsu bridge is in Kamishihoro city, Hokkaido prefecture. This bridge is also called “Megane-Bashi”. This means eyeglasses bridge in English. When it’s a sunny day, this lake will reflect the bridge and it will look like eyeglasses. It also looks like Roman’s ruin but this is in Japan! This bridge used to be the bridge for trains but in 1955, a dam named, “Mukabira-damu(糠平ダム)” was constructed near this bridge and this place went under the water.

From August to October, this bridge goes under water because the lake will raise and cover the bridge. This bridge deteriorates over time, every year it loses more of it’s structure so you never know when it will collapse. As you see the picture above, it is breaking down so if you want to see it, you need to get there as soon as you can!

2: Tsuru no Mai bridge(Tsuru no Maibashi/鶴の舞橋)

Tsuru no Maibashi is in Tsuruta city, Aomori prefecture. This bridge is the longest Japanese arched bridge which was made of wood and the length of about 300 meters and the height is about 3 meters. It’s built in 1994. There are two resting places that connect the three bridges. It’s said that if you see this bridge from a far place, it looks like two cranes are flying. A crane means Tsuru in Japanese and as you noticed already, the word of the crane is a part of the name for this bridge.

The number “3” is a key to this bridge. The length is 300 meters, the height is 3 meters, the bridge piers are 30 centimeters(a diameter), a number of logs are 3000, a number of wood plates are 3000, Awarizekiotameike(the lake around this bridge) was made in 1660 which is Manji 3(万治), March in Japanese year. What an interesting story, huh? In addition, these 3 bridges are expressed as the 3 mountains around this area. Those mountains are “Ganki-yama(巌鬼山)”, “Chokai-san or zan(鳥海山)”, and “Iwaki-san(岩木山)”. All of them are recognized as the one and called “Iwaki-san(岩木山)”. Even though you run into bad weather and can’t see Iwaki-san on the lake, you would be able to enjoy seeing the shadow of the bridge as Iwaki-san.

One more thing, along the wood bridge, is “Nagai Ki no Hashi(長い木の橋)” in Japanese. “Nagaiki(長生き)” means also long longevity so this bridge is known as a power spot in Japan.(a power spot is a place where you can feel the spiritual feelings)

3: Jogakura bridge(Jogakura Ohashi/城ヶ倉大橋)

Jogakura bridge is in Aomori city, Aomori prefecture. The length is 360 meters and the height is about 120 meters. As you see the picture above, this location is surrounded by nature and especially, in the autumn, the leaves change color and create a gorgeous atmosphere. It’s built in 1995.

This place is also known as one of the haunted places in Japan. I hope you won’t run into anything when you visit here!

4: Usui Daisan bridge(Usui Daisan-Kyoryo/碓氷第三橋梁)

Usui Daisan bridge is in Matsuida city, Gunma prefecture. It’s also called “Megane-Bashi”. It means eyeglasses bridge in English. It’s made out of the bricks and four-arched bridge. The length is 91 meters and the height is 31 meters. Two million bricks were used for this bridge and it’s An Important Cultural Property in Japan. It’s built in 1893 and used until Japan abolished the Abt system railway.

It stands in the valley strongly and makes a great atmosphere. But some people who don’t have manners write graffiti and give the people who take care of these ruins a hard time. It’s sad to see those things on the ruins. Don’t do that! ┐(´д｀)┌

5: Rainbow bridge(レインボーブリッジ)

Rainbow bridge is in Minato-ku, Tokyo Prefecture. The length is 798 meters and the height is 126 meters(including the towers). It’s built in 1993 and it reduces the heavy traffic in Tokyo.

It lights up for the special days and creates a romantic atmosphere. There are many movies and anime that use this bridge and it’s one of the symbols of Tokyo.

6: Yokohama bay bridge(横浜ベイブリッジ)

Yokohama bay bridge is in Yokohama city, Kanagawa prefecture. The length is 860 meters and the height is 172 meters(including the height of the tower). It’s built in 1989 and there is no pedestrian path. It’s for cars but you can get to walk until an observation platform.

This bridge has been seen in many movies or anime. For example, “Godzilla vs Mothra” and so on. There are many factories near this bridge so, at night, you can see a different look of it.

7: Saru bridge(Saru-Hashi/猿橋)

Saru bridge is in Otsuki city, Yamanashi prefecture. The length is 30.9 meters and the height is 31 meters. This bridge was renewed in 1984 but nobody knows when the original bridge was built. According to the local legend, it’s said that A gardener saw many monkeys make a bridge with their body and had him to make this bridge in around 610. The monkey is “Saru(猿)” in Japanese and that’s why this bridge was named “Saru-hashi(猿橋)”.

As you see from the picture that it is a unique structure. This style is called “Hanebashi(刎橋)”. This way was invented during the Edo period. They made a hole on the bedrock and put wooden plates in it. They pile wooden plates up and little by little, extend the length. You won’t see many bridges like this in Japan anymore and it’s rare to see.

8: Horai bridge(Horai-Bashi/蓬莱橋)

Horai-bashi is in Shimada city, Shizuoka prefecture and the longest foot wood bridge in the world(Guinness record). The length is 897.422 meters and the height is about 3 to 5 meters. 897.4 is the length of this bridge and you can say “Yakunashi(厄なし)” in Japanese. This means “no misfortune” and the long wood bridge means “Nagai Ki no Hashi(長い木の橋)” in Japanese and “Nagaiki(長生き)” means also long longevity so this bridge is said that long longevity bridge without misfortune.

In the center of this bridge, the wood plate says the center of the bridge and it takes about 30 to 40 minutes for a round trip. It was built in 1879 but this bridge has broken a couple of times due to natural disasters in history and every time it broke, they restored it. The anime “GOLDEN TIME” used this bridge as a model on the anime. Remember Banri was waiting for Linda on this bridge?

9: Yume no Tsuribashi(夢の吊り橋)

Yume no Tsuribashi is in Kawanehon city, Shizuoka prefecture. The length is about 90 meters and the height is about 8 meters. It’s a suspension bridge and can you walk? It takes some guts to go across it! I will pass on this one! ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))) The name of this bridge is unique. Yume means dream in English and the reason why it’s named this way is that it looks like a dreamy bridge or scary bridge that might come up in your dream.

The water is very beautiful and the color of leaves are different in every season. It’s in the mountains and there are many people who come to this place for the summer. There are only 10 people allowed to be on this bridge for security reasons. It will give you a thrill and some fun. If you have the balls to come across this bridge, you need to go!

10: Togetsu bridge(Togetsu-Kyo/渡月橋)

Togetsu bridge is in Kyoto city, Kyoto Prefecture. The length is 155 meters and the width is 11 meters. It’s wide because cars use this bridge to pass through. It’s a concrete road and there are two pedestrian paths on each side. The history is deep. It’s said that during the Heian period(794-1185), a monk named, Dosho(道昌) built this bridge in the different place but after a while later, it was moved to this place. Emperor Kameyama(亀山上皇) saw this bridge and thought that the moon was walking across this bridge, so the name of this bridge was given by him. Isn’t it romantic?

When the mountain is lit up, this bridge will make a great elegance. It’s one of the famous sightseeing locations and you will get to feel the feelings that you are in Kyoto!

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11: Akashi Kaikyo bridge(Akashi Kaikyo-Ohashi/明石海峡大橋)

Akashi Kaikyo bridge is in Kobe city, Hyogo Prefecture. This bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world and it connects Kobe city to Awaji island. The length is 3911 meters and the height is about 300 meters. It’s built in 1998. This bridge has an observation platform.

The scenery is very beautiful, they also light the bridge up. They change the color of the lights so you can enjoy looking at this bridge.

12: Seto bridge(Seto-Ohashi/瀬戸大橋)

Seto bridge is in Kurashiki city, Okayama Prefecture. It connects Okayama prefecture to Kagawa prefecture. The length is 12300 meters and the height is 194 meters. It was built in 1988. On top of this bridge, the path is for cars and below the car path, there is a railroad. It’s a two-story bridge.

This bridge is very helpful for the people. Have you heard “Shikoku(四国)”? Shikoku is an island and consists of four prefectures. These are Tokushima prefecture(徳島県), Kagawa prefecture(香川県), Ehime prefecture(愛媛県), and Kochi prefecture(高知県). This bridge is popular so there are many movies or anime that used this bridge as a model. For example, “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah”, “Yuki Yuna is a Hero”, and so on.

13: Kazura bridge(Kazura-Bashi/かずら橋)

Kazura bridge is in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture. The length is 45 meters and the height is 14 meters. It’s made out of many kinds of arrowroot and an old style bridge. This bridge made the lists of Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties. The arrowroot bridge was replaced in the Taisho period(1912-1926). They replaced the bridge with wire, but in 1928, they rebuilt this bridge to represent the old way for promotion of regional development, however, for security reasons they used wires and the wrapped the arrowroot around the wires.

The history of this bridge is interesting. When the Heike lost the war against the Genji in 1185, the Heike was chased away from their places. this war is called “Jisho Juei war(治承・寿永の乱)” and those Heike who ran away were called “Heike no Ochiudo(平家の落人)”. It’s said that those people used to live around this place to hide and in a case of the enemy coming to their hiding places, to cut this bridge easily, they used a bunch of the kinds of arrowroot. It’s not that high but the wood plate has little spaces between so you can feel the thrill to walk across.

14: Tsunoshima bridge(Tsunoshima-Ohashi/角島大橋)

Tsunoshima bridge is in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi prefecture. The length is 1780 meters and it connects from the mainland to the island named, “Tsuno-shima(角島)”. It’s built in 1993 and helps people to go over to the island.

In Japan, usually the west side or southern parts have the emerald green color ocean and it’s so beautiful. It would be great to go to this place when it’s summertime!

15: Eshima Bridge(Eshima Ohashi/江島大橋)

Eshima bridge is in Sakaiminato city, Tottori prefecture. the length is 1700 meters and the height is 44.7 meters. As you see the picture above, there is no particular looking but this bridge has been popular in Japan. Do you want to know why? Take a look at the picture below!

What do you think about it? This bridge looks like it’s a jet coaster! Japanese car company “Daihatsu” used this location for the promotion of their car called, “Daihatsu Tanto”. To show that a light vehicle has a horsepower, they chose this place and this bridge became popular in Japan. What a bridge!

16: Kintai bridge(Kintai-Kyo/錦帯橋)

Kintai bridge is in Iwakuni city, Yamaguchi prefecture. It is said for one of the three greatest bridges in Japan(the other ones are Uji-Bashi Bridge and the Yamasaki-Bashi Bridge). It’s an arched wood bridge on stone walls and there are 5 bridges in a low. The length is 193.3 meters and the height is about 6.6 meters. Surprisingly, there is no nails are used. It was built in 1673. Since it was built, the floods have broken this bridge a couple of times. Near this bridge, there is a park called, “Kikko-koen(吉香公園)”. This park is famous for sakura(Japanese blossoms).

Isn’t it beautiful with cherry blossoms which are lightened up? If we are there, we would stare at this scenery forever! It’s a unique bridge and you will not get to see the bridge like this in the world.

17: Kokonoe Yume bridge(Kokonoe Yume Otsurihashi/九重夢大吊橋)

Kokonoe Yume bridge is in Kusu gun, Oita prefecture. The length is 390 meters and the height is 173 meters. It sits in the altitude, 777 meters. It’s built in 2006 and you can get to enjoy the scenery of Kyusui valley(九酔渓).

As you see the pictures, this place is beautiful in the autumn. The color of leaves change and make a great view. From this bridge, you can get to see the two waterfalls.

18: Tsujun bridge(Tsujun-Kyo/通潤橋)

Tsujun bridge is in Yamato city, Kumamoto prefecture. The length of this bridge is about 78 meters and the height is about 20-28 meters. It’s made out of stones and An Important Cultural Property in Japan. This bridge was built in 1854 and has an interesting story. They made the wooden crate and took it off after they finished building this bridge but when they were taking the wooden crate off, this man named, Yasunosuke Futa who was a village headman wore white clothing which is for a samurai when committing “Seppuku(切腹)”. You can tell this man bet his life on this bridge to build. He took so much responsibility for it!

This bridge was made for sending the water to the poor lands. It has waste-water ports and it lets the water out for the travelers sometimes. It would be a fantastic time to see it!

19: Kouri bridge(Kouri-Ohashi/古宇利大橋)

Kouri bridge is in Kunigami gun, Okinawa prefecture. This bridge connects Kouri island to Yagaji island. The length is 1960 meters and it’s built in 2005. This bridge is the second longest bridge among the bridges which are a free tool.

What a great view, huh? I’m sure we will be able to enjoy driving this bridge~!

20: Irabu bridge(Irabu-Ohashi/伊良部大橋)

As you see the picture, this is from Okinawa. It’s in Miyakojima city, Okinawa prefecture. The length is about 3540 meters and this bridge is the longest bridge among the bridge which doesn’t take a tool in Japan. It’s built in 2015 and still a new road. It connects Miyako island to Irabu island.

In the middle of this bridge, the bridge raise the height to let the ships get through. As you see the ocean is so beautiful and you might feel like you want to speed your car but don’t do it!

Summary

Did you find the ones that you want to see with your eyes? There are more bridges in Japan and they are so unique. They have the different looks for every season and we can enjoy seeing the difference. I would love to take a trip to Japan just for seeing the bridges. Oh, that sounds like a maniac for bridges~!

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Konnichiwa! ━━ヽ(*ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉ I'm Mishi. My passion towards Japan got me to create this blog. As I learn Japanese culture, I want to share the world of Japan with you! Yoroshiku Onegai Shimasu(nice to meet you)! ヽ(=ﾟωﾟ)人(ﾟωﾟ=)ﾉ